Warriors of God

September 12, 2011
Veteran Middle East correspondent Blanford (Killing Mr. Lebanon) draws on his 17 years covering Lebanon for this detailed and timely account of the rise of the Lebanese resistance group. The 1978 occupation of southern Lebanon by Israel spawned a “new movement” among the Shia underclass to confront the Israelis: Hezbollah, or the Party of God. Supported by Iran, protected by Syria, and led since 1992 by the charismatic Hassan Nasrallah, Hezbollah exploited its role as “the dominant force fighting the Israelis” to become today the dominant political and military actor in Lebanon. Relying primarily on his extensive reporting from the front lines of the fighting in south Lebanon and interviews with officials and fighters, the author pieces together an intriguing picture of Hezbollah as a political, social, and militant group. The book is generally evenhanded, but Blanford seems to go a bit easy on some of Hezbollah’s more dubious practices. When the group ambushed an Israeli patrol, sparking another round of violence, Blanford is quick to accept their claim that they were “not looking for a serious confrontation.” And despite the thousands of rockets Hezbollah fired into Israel in 2006, the author characterizes Hezbollah’s posture as defensive. Otherwise, Blanford offers a smart, comprehensive, and valuable look inside the workings of perhaps “the most powerful nonstate military organization in the world.”